Search results

The purpose of this paper was to identify whether the two‐sided nature of markets in both online and offline channels affects the versioning strategies of multi‐channel publishers in the presence of channel substitutability.

Using analytical models, the versioning of a multi‐channel publisher is analysed, with consideration of advertising revenue and possible channel substitutability.

The paper shows that not only the two‐sided nature of the online market but also that of the offline market affects the versioning strategy online. Multiple online versions are desired when the offline advertising market shrinks and the online advertising market proliferates. In a reverse situation, providing one online version (for free) can be optimal.

Previous studies on versioning have mostly considered only the information market per se. However, studies on two‐sided markets have shown that analysis that focuses on a single side leads to analytical error due to inter‐market network externalities. In this context, it is proven that advertising revenue is a critical factor in the publisher's decision whether to provide multiple online versions.

After decades of successful expansion, The Reader's Digest Association's products were mature. With an average readership age for the flagship Reader's Digest magazine of 50.3 in 2004, efforts to develop new products had so far failed to entice a significant number of younger customers. Following a financial downturn in 1996, positive financial results remained illusive. Several major changes instituted by Thomas O. Ryder, CEO since 1998, including acquisitions, re-capitalization, restructuring and systematic re-engineering of the corporate culture, had proven mildly successful, but RDA, as well as the entire publishing industry, faced a persistent decline in profitability. Could RDA fulfill its stated mission to create “products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world”, and could it do this by continuing to rely on the 80-year old Reader's Digest magazine?

Digital media platforms in Uganda experimented with subscription-based models as an alternative to the traditional advertising model and as a recovery plan from the effects of COVID-19. Drawing from the theory of the political economy of the media, this study focusses on the critical success factors for subscription-based models in digital media platforms, audience consumption habits vis-á-vis payment for content, the effect of paywalls on the company financials and finally, establish the barriers to subscription uptake in Uganda. Media started charging users subscription fees for content in the 1990s (Chyi, 2005). Technological advances changed audience consumption habits from consuming hardcopy newspapers to accessing content on the go through their smartphones, tablets, and computers (Berger, Matt, Steininger, & Hess, 2015). Whilst some consumers pay for content, several audience surveys in East Africa indicated a lack of consistency among the paying audiences (KARF, 2019). Most consumers never purchased subscription and were avert to paywalls. The study used a mixed-method approach to find that the increase in internet penetration in Uganda and smartphone usage were the most significant enablers of paid-content consumption in Uganda. The quality of content, poor packaging, and unfair prices by publishers were the biggest barriers to consumption of paid news content.

This paper aims to understand the impact of the internet on different value activities in a physical goods (newspaper) supply chain.

Case studies were used to obtain rich data from three newspaper companies. The selected case study companies had experienced changes in their value chains as a result of the internet.

The internet has led to falling advertising revenues and dwindling circulations. The companies reacted to this by developing online news services, which do not have the distribution costs of a physical product, enable the customisation of editorial and advertising content, and facilitate the co‐creation of news content with consumers. Moving online has, however, not fully compensated for the losses in revenues. Readers were reluctant to pay for online content, the income from of the sale of web‐based advertising space was significantly lower than for the printed form, and journalists resisted co‐creation.

The small sample of cases limits the generalisability of the findings.

Regional newspapers face problems developing an effective online news service to enable them to remain relevant in the communities they serve. The findings suggest that, although newspapers have adopted multimedia, and now have some user generated content, there is a reluctance to consider greater usage of additional forms of news production and e‐tools.

This paper examines how digital media are displacing physical goods from a value chain. There is evidence that co‐creation, a variable so far neglected in the literature on internet supply chains, can have a critical impact on value adding/creation activities.

This study aims to explore switch intention of users’ reading behaviour. Amazon’s 2007 introduction of the Kindle e-book reader launched a new way of reading. The popularity of e-book readers has exploded over past several years. However, the Chinese e-book reader market is still relatively underdeveloped and underexploited when compared with North America or other regions. At the time, it remained unclear whether consumers could be persuaded to abandon conventional printed books for the new device in the Chinese market.

This research has gathered 352 valid questionnaire samples on an Internet survey from the general population. Path analysis was used to investigate the causal relationships which were hypothesized by the structural equation modelling methodology to identify key factors in intention to switch to the e-book reader.

The results indicate that convenience and social influence were found to have a significant effect on consumer switching intention, while switching cost was found to be a significant obstacle to switching. This research also found that convenience of carry and operation of new technological products will lower switching costs. Furthermore, it will lead consumers to have higher switching intention when surrounding friends and families have good experiences and impressions of using new products. Thus, the manufacturers and sellers of e-readers have to consider the easy-to-handle convenient-to-carry while designing products. And the concept of higher social influence and lower switching cost shall lead the marketing strategies.

Recently, some studies address what factors drive users’ willingness to use this new device for reading based on innovation diffusion theory or the technology acceptance model. Few studies have investigated adoption of e-readers for consumers’ perceived innovative and their perception of the costs. Hence, this paper studies the switching intention of readers through dimensions including new product attributes (compatibility, complexity, convenience and e-book content), social influence, price and switching costs and verifies the relationships among these dimensions on Chinese market.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Technology has always been one of society's great enigmas. Indeed, mere mention of the word is often enough to induce excitement or apprehension in almost equal measures. British scientist Charles Percy Snow summed up the conundrum perfectly when he once pointed out technology's aptitude for bringing gifts to people while simultaneously stabbing them in the back. The publishing industry is certainly hoping it is the former. Although worth some $300 billion globally, the sector is currently faced with that most unwelcome equation of falling revenues and rising costs. It was hoped that online advertising income might compensate for the lower returns generated through traditional print media. That, however, has not proved to be the case. Even the eminent New York Times has failed to make internet based advertising pay. But salvation may be close at hand in the shape of a new breed of e‐readers.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The subject area is strategy and business.

The case can be used for MBA students. This is equally effective in short courses meant for low-to-mid-level working executives. The case is suited for classes in strategy, general marketing, media management and family business courses.

Dainik Jagran – a vernacular daily – is the most read newspaper in India. Under the banner of Jagran Prakashan Ltd.; which is one of the leading media houses in India, the success of Dainik Jagran has been an outcome of the strategic marketing decisions taken by its founder and his successors in the post-independence era. With extensive circulation, it created a large readership base and took bold decisions to launch multi editions to its daily through a series of acquisitions, mergers and consolidations from 1975 to 2010, enabling it to step into product diversification. Readership surveys, investments in technology, advertising, regular branding events and smart phone applications are a few tools that helped. While the group has diversified into other industries, there is an underlying anxiety about the future prospects of its newspaper business. With the onslaught of online news dailies, will Dainik Jagran be able to expand and maintain its readership base using its previous business and marketing strategies? Or is it time to change strategies for businesses in the newspaper and allied media industry in India?

The study has the following outcomes: application of value chain concept in businesses serving two-sided markets; application of environmental analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis and related strategy concepts; and learning to critically approach and develop a sustainable growth strategy framework for a successful family-run newspaper business in India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

We advance theory of how founder identity affects business model (BM) design during new venture creation and contribute to the cognitive perspective on BMs. We look at BM design as a longitudinal process involving a variety of cognitive work that is co-shaped by the founder identity work. Based on an in-depth nine-year process study of a single venture managed by three founders, we observed that a novelty-centered BM design resulted from cognitive work co-shaped by founder identity construction and verification processes. Yet, more remarkably, we noted that founder identity verification decreased over time and observed a process that we labeled “identity-business model decoupling.” It meant that the founders did not alter their founder identity but, over time, attentively grew self-aware and mindfully disengaged negative identity effects to design an effective BM. Our results provide a dynamic view on founder identity imprinting on ventures’ BMs and contribute to the identity, BM, and entrepreneurship literatures.

Explores the question of whether the traditional practice of bundling advertisements with content will prevail or become less common on the Internet. Given that revenue from advertisers is desirable to content providers, the answer mainly depends on whether advertisers will choose to deliver their advertisements by bundling. The decision to bundle in turn depends on the response of customers to bundling and to other advertising strategies. In particular, the relationship between advertising and content provision on the Internet may be affected by this medium’s distinctive characteristics, which affect the choices of advertisers and the response of customers. Thus, one needs to investigate the choices of advertisers, the behavior of customers, and their dependence on the distinctive technological features of the Internet.